2of2San Francisco District 5 Supervisor Vallie Brown says the Board of Supervisors needs to help improve state Senate Bill 50, not just oppose it outright.Photo: Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle 2018

I learned to travel light from a young age. My mom, sister, and I lived in so many different apartments they all blur together. Mom would find a place, be able to pay rent for a while, but then I’d come home one day to see her packing boxes, shuttling us out the door before an eviction could force us out.

We lived in a van for a while when I was in my tweens. We slept by the side of the road, went to gas stations and rest stops to clean up. We were saving for the next apartment and had borrowed the van. We weren’t too proud to accept the help. Housing insecurity teaches you that, makes you creative, resourceful.

I’ve never forgotten those lessons. They guide my approach to housing policy today. San Francisco is in a housing crisis — far too many households are struggling. San Franciscans don’t need political posturing or naysaying. They need solutions.

I’ve worked hard to find city land for new affordable housing, to secure the McDonald’s site on Stanyan Street for 100% affordable housing, and to build more affordable homes on Divisadero Street. I helped create the Neighborhood-preference program to give local residents priority for affordable homes in their neighborhoods; added $40 million to prevent Ellis Act evictions by buying at-risk buildings; and funded attorneys for renters facing eviction.

We don’t have to choose. We can make it easier to build more housing and strengthen protections for tenants.

State Sen. Scott Wiener’s Senate Bill 50 proposes proactive, statewide changes and has been called California’s “most promising proposal” to build more housing. But it needs work. That’s exactly what the legislative process is for. I recently voted against a resolution opposing SB50, because I believe we should be doing that work — just saying no isn’t enough.

It’s too difficult to build housing in San Francisco for renters, even near transit, even on an empty lot, even 100% affordable housing. Recent developments in the legislature have postponed action on SB50 until 2020, but the status quo isn’t working and we need solutions that reach beyond the city — that’s why we need to engage our state representatives.

We’re a city that leads, be it on climate change or immigration. We need to show this same leadership on housing.

Let’s lean in and demonstrate why our leadership matters. Here’s what I propose: Amending SB50 to increase tenant protections, prevent demolitions of homes, preserve greater local authority, and ensure local communities can have meaningful input on proposed boundaries.

I’ve written my own resolution proposing exactly that. I hope my colleagues will support it, but I’m already working with Sen. Wiener on incorporating these priorities. I believe this is what leaders do in a crisis: Work together. Fight for our priorities.

As someone who has known housing insecurity, who has wondered where the van might take them next, I find it troubling that we’re not working harder to find shared solutions to build. It’s unimaginative. I pledge to be a leader who seizes every opportunity to bring affordable homes to those who need them.

Vallie Brown represents District 5 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.